Biophysical Joumal Volume 67 August 1994 937--940 937

Biological Data Analysis: A Practical Approach (Practical ApproachSeries 115) by J. C. FryIRL Press at Oxford University Press, Oxord New York and Tokyo, 1992. 418 pages.

Reviewed by Michael L. Johnson, Departnents of Pharmacology and Intemal Medicine, Box 448, University ofVirginia Heafth Sciences Center, Charlottesville, VA

"This volume aims to allow biologists to carry out accuratestatistical analysis and modelling with the minimum chanceof making mistakes." (Preface) An error-free statisticalanalysis is obviously a requirement for all scientific endeav-ors. However, too few graduate students in biological dis-ciplines are well versed in the application of statistical meth-odologies. Thus books such as the present example play animportant role in the education of students. They are alsoimportant for the continuing education of established re-searchers, many of whom were also not well educated instatistics.

This book, like many other books, descrbes several clas-sical statistical methods such as analysis of variance,bivariate regression, multiple regression, ordination, classi-fication, and time series analysis. The distinguishing featureof this work is that it describes these from the perspective ofbiologists with examples that are of some interest to biolo-gists. Many specific examples in the book use, and describein some detail, commonly available software such asMinitab. The book is "aimed at final-year undergraduate stu-dents, masters degree students, postgraduate and professionalbiologists in industry, research and education" (Prefae) It as-sumes that the reader already has some understanding of de-

scripve statistcs (e.g., means and variance) and elementary dis-stibutions (e.g., Gaussian and Poisson).Also included is a brief introduction to dynamic and com-

partmental models. However, as the preface notes, "readerswith special interest in this subject would need to read otherbooks."The usefulness of this book will depend upon the reader's

application and interests. If the reader is interested in thelatest nonlinear dynamic and chaos theory methods for theanalysis of time series data then this is not the book. If thereader is interested in fitting time domain fluorescence life-time data to mechanistic models that include terms for col-lisional quenching and diffusion then this is not the book. Ifthe reader wishes to distinguish between different statisticalthermodynamic mechanistic models of cooperativity in hu-man hemoglobin then, again, this is not the book. However,an understanding of the techniques required for these com-plex statistical analyses is based on the elementary statisticalmethods outlined in this book. The scope of this book is bynecessity limited, but the included topics are covered clearlyand in sufficient detail to be useful to biological researchers.Therefore, this book may be of some interest to biologists asan introductory text

Introduction to Scanning Tunneling Microscopy by C. Julian Chen

Oxford University Press, New York, 1993. 472 pages. $65.00

Reviewed by Stuart M. Undsay, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Arizona State University

If the last thing you heard about biological scanning tun-neling microscopy was artifacts-on-graphite, it is time tolook again. Even if you have no interest in the techniquebeyond the scanning tunneling microscope's (STM's)"simple" cousin (the atomic force microscope, AFM) youmay well want this book. Proximal probe microscopes are,when used to their full potential, probes of the interatomicinteractions between a probe and a sample. These interac-tions are notwe desribed in classical terms.Mey are quan-tum mechanical and chemical in nature, and this is the textto read in order to grasp the fuidamentals. To write the de-finitive book, Julian Chen has had to give coherence to a wide

body of new knowledge and had to do so in a way that isaccessible to an inherently interdisciplinary audience. He hassucceeded brlliantly. Unfortunately, from the perspective ofreaders of Biophysical Journal. "Biological Applications"merits a scant page. Chen has rightly sought to incorporatethat which is "fundamental." One suspects that the contro-versy that surrounded much of the early biological work hasdisqualified it in his eyes. That having been said, a numberof papers have been published since this book was preparedthat demonstrate high-resolution images of biopolymers,membranes, and organic adlayers obtained by STM. STMimages ofDNA in its natural, hydrated state have far higher